This guy is becoming more and more familiar to me, cause I saw him on TV like almost everyday now that it’s playoff season for the NBA especially since the Mavericks is still ALIVE. Yupe, he’s none other than the owner of Dallas Mavericks, the baby boomer tycoon named Mark Cuban. I’ve heard a lot about him, but never in details, so I did a little bit of googling to find out more about him, and after gathering so many information, I think now I can say that he’s quite something, not just your regular billionaire..he's the work hard party hard kinda of guy and he sets a good example to a lot of business minded people, He gave quite a few advices to lil mark cuban out there, i know some of his advices can be found in marketing or any business textbooks, but i've never seen anyone works them in the real world as perfect as he does. so i thought i'd share it with you..=)..*ps: this may be boring though, but who knows it could be useful for some of us..*

1. Say Yes to Anything, Never Say NO!

when he was in college, he came up with the idea of having his own computer networking company..*MicroSolutions, Inc* . He didn’t know anything about computer at all at that time, never taken a computer class. But he believed in himself that he can learn anything if he has the will to do it, so he never turned customers’ request even though he didn't know shit what the customers wanted and managed to pull it all together and delivered a top notch work. The company was a success, setelah beberapa tahun..CompuServe was interested in his company and he sold it for a few million dollars. Setelah itu dia sempet juga built broadcast.com from scratch yang akhirnya di beli sama Yahoo!

2. Be passionate at what you’re doing and show it to the world.

When he bought the Mavericks, the team wasn’t in a good shape and they were trapped in a long losing streak season. But he turned it all around by getting involved in every single activity that has anything to do with the team. He's very passionate about it and he's able to encourage the community to support the team in his own way. One of his unique way is by sitting at the bench with the players and the coaches during the game. Most of the NBA owner would sit somewhere in private, out of public eyes, wearing their expensive suits and ties. But not Mark Cuban, he is there near the baseline, yelling and cheering on his teams, wearing just jeans and a regular t-shirt…making sure the referees are doing the job right. He complains to the referees a lot, and of course, as a result, he got fined a lot!!. But that shows character right there, that he is willing to do anything in his power to protect his players and stand up for them.There was one time when he got a $500,000 fined—for saying of the head of NBA officiating : “I wouldn’t hire him to manage a Dairy Queen”…hihi. Dan akhirnya dia malah dapet surat dari Dairy Queen, yang mungkin felt somewhat insulted by his statement and invited him to be a dairy queen manager for a day, saying that it's not as easy as it seems to be a dairy queen manager. And being a humble man that he is, he accepted the job…and of course, thousands of people were waiting in line in dairy queen to see him serving ice creams… And I think that’s a good marketing, cause that’s a chance to prove once again that you’re indeed the coolest billionaire. You think Bill Gates would ever wanna do that?

3. Connect with your customers/clients/fans…anyone that has something to do with your company.

Unlike any other public figures who hide their email address/contact number, Mark Cuban put his email address everywhere and encourage anyone to send him email if they have question/complains/suggestion or anything and he actually reads and reply the email right away. He has answered thousands upon thousands of email, and even though he is such a busy man he makes himself approachable. In fact, his desk in his office is the one near the entrance door so it is easier for him to talk to the customers, he’s also make time to sign autographs before and after the game..and also very closed with his employees and always does his best to give a great working environment for them. When he owned the MicroSolutions, he only had 85 employees, but over the course of seven years, he only had four employees leave. And all of them came back to work for him at some point.

4. Customer is always right.

I know it sounds lame, but it’s true and he also believes in no detail is too small when it comes to taking care of customers to create any excuses for them to go and spend their money somewhere else. He even handle complains from people who found chewing gum on the seat at the arena, or when the restrooms are not clean enough, etc.

5. Low Profile

Yes he’s a billionaire now, but that doesn’t mean he would trade his sweatpants for a suit and tie. There is nothing about his appearance that signal his status as one of the country’s richest man. He doesn’t feel the need to remind the world that he is now an important person. In fact, he still go to 7-11 to buy a diet coke and tuna sandwich if he’s hungry…

6. You Don’t have to be an innovator to succeed.

It's becoming more and more impossible for anyone to come up with such a unique idea that no one has every done before. But there’s usually a place to sneak in and do something a little different and work harder at executing them. He admits that mostly he stole his ideas from somebody else, he never really invented anything, he just put the pieces and the information together better.

7. Never invest money in the market.

This is what he said..”Put your money in the bank. The stock market is probably the worst investment vehicle out there. NEVER put your money in something where you don't have an information advantage. Why invest your money in something because a broker told you to? If the broker had a clue, he/she wouldn't be a broker, they would be on a beach somewhere..”..hehe, i couldn't agree more with Mr. Cuban.

Anywaaay...now you know who i'll be rooting tomorrow, of course the dallas mavericks, not just because i like the owner, but because i basically root for anyone who plays against the kings...hihi...one more win for the mavs and the kings will be sent straight to the basketball hell..